Iridion 3-D and Iridion II

[Bydo Dragon]

There aren't a lot of shmups for the GBA--the port of R-TYPE III was a joke, and the rumored StarFox 2 still has yet to show its face--but I was wondering if anyone else had played the Iridion games? They're relatively easy, but quite a bit of fun IMO, particularly if you just need a way to pass 20 minutes or so. They're pretty games for a GBA title, and the music on both games utterly rules.

My favorite of the two is Iridion II. Kind of lacking in weapons inventory, and the play control isn't the best, but there are a number of easter eggs to keep you entertained, and playing with the password feature can lead to some interesting results (such as starting stage six with 300,000 points and 8 lives...this from just punching in random letters). Even the title screen is amusing, for you can play with the music channels and create your own title screen Iridion remix.

Other thoughts to add? I was curious to see if anyone else had played these.

[Leeram]

I haven't played Iridion 1 but I bought Iridion 2 after reading a small post about it and I agree with both yourself and the original post I read.

First off it cost me fiver off eBay so it was a bargain! It's got nice graphics but the game plods along a bit. Like you say, the controls aren't fantastic. I did like some of the boss patterns, they were relatively easy, but that's exactly what I needed after being at work all day and playing on the train home for a short while. The levels are complex enough to benefit from a little bit of memorisation, but not complex enough to tax you too much. It has a fairly large hit area, but there again you have a shield to balance that out so a crappy little mistake isn't going to send you back to the beginning of the level. The music is very good and there's plenty of in level save points so you don't go back to the beginning after every life.

It's just an average run of the mill game that's quite fun. Just the ticket for a 20 minute blast when you've nothing better to do. Overall I enjoyed playing it but it's no Garegga!

Cheers

Leeram

[Thunder Force]

Other thoughts to add?

It seems that "Nanostray" is effectively going to be Iridion III

Will be interesting to see if this spiritual successor improves on Iridion II the same way that game improved on its predecessor. At least this time there will be high score saving.

[Bydo Dragon]

Just checked out Nanostray.com, and the game looks pretty nice. I hope it follows through with a suitably good soundtrack. Admittedly that was one of my favorite aspects of the Iridion games.

[professor ganson]

Does anyone have a release date for Nanostray? My DS is getting no use whatsoever until the day it comes out.

[Bydo Dragon]

Ebgames has it slated for July of this year...but no telling how accurate that is.

[dave4shmups]

I absolutely LOVE the soundtrack to Iridion 3D. Anyone here seen Transformers: The Movie? Well the music in Iridion 3D sounds like the Vince DiCola tracks to the movie, and it's fantastic! I've even seen an Iridion 3D soundtrack for sale somewhere; but I think it was re-mixed.

In any case, get both games, they're both cheap, and although Iridion 3D isn't a proper shmup, it's still IMO a great shooter-but VERY tough.

And yeah, be sure keep up with release dates, either on IGN's site or somewhere else, as some of them change multiple times. OT, I'm STILL waiting for PS2 Dragon Warrior VIII to make it over here; it's been out in Japan for like 2 years, and was supposed to make it over here last year and this year, and now they're saying "TBA 2006"!

[the2bears]

Does anyone have a release date for Nanostray? My DS is getting no use whatsoever until the day it comes out.

All I've seen is "Q3" as a reference point for when this ships... I'm patiently waiting, I need more portable shmups.

Bill

[subcons]

I got Iridion II recently, and IMHO, it's terrible. Yes, the game is nice looking for a GBA game. They did a pretty good job of faking the 3D look. But my main gripe with the game is the actual gameplay. SNORE. And the ship and enemy design is extremely lacking.

Just my opinion. I'm getting rid of my copy. If anyone wants it, it's complete and in great condition.

I'll be sticking with Gradius Galaxies and Steel Empire for my on-the-go shmupping needs. And if you don't have either of those, pick them up now. They blow Iridion away!

[BrianC]

I like Iridion II. I actually like the ship and enemy design in it. It reminds me a bit of R-Type. I love the referance to a certain classic shmup that plays before the bosses. It seems like the weapons borrowed a bit too much from Slipheed. I do like how the game has an Aleste 2 MSX/GG Aleste 2 style weapon select, though.

[CMoon]

Collision detection is really trashy. I hate how you start powered down every level. And of course I hate the angled perspective. It certainly could have been a much better game and I like it enough to WISH it was a much better game.

[Bydo Dragon]

I absolutely LOVE the soundtrack to Iridion 3D. Anyone here seen Transformers: The Movie? Well the music in Iridion 3D sounds like the Vince DiCola tracks to the movie, and it's fantastic! I've even seen an Iridion 3D soundtrack for sale somewhere; but I think it was re-mixed.

I noticed the title screen sounded a lot like the Autobot-Decepticon battle, yes...

A remixed Iridion 3-D soundtrack? I'll have to look for that.